Perpetual calendar

ABSTRACT

A perpetual calendar shows the day of the week, date of the month, and month, by means of rotatable dials. A small portion of the dials protrudes from the case to enable them to be manually turned. The dials are formed with an integral spring portion which cooperates with teeth on bosses, upon which the dials are mounted, to provide a detent action.

ilnite States atent 350,577 10/1886 Carpenter Inventor Jack EairchildFleming Morris Plains, NJ. 878,156

Nov. 19, 1969 Dec. 21, 1971 Sterling Plastics Company Mountainside, NJ.

Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee PERPETUAL CALENDAR Claims, 9 DrawingFigs.

11.8. C1 /113 int. Cl C0911 3/08 Field of Search 40/1 13,

References Cited! UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,327,317 1/1920 Fuller 40/1132,476,560 7/1949 Norgard 235/117 2,774,158 12/1956 Tamoschat. 40/702,996,247 8/1961 Shell 40/70 X FOREIGN PATENTS 709,905 6/1954 GreatBritain 40/1 13 Primary Examiner-Robert W. Michell Assistant Examiner-J.H. Wolff Attorneys-Albert C. Johnston and Robert E. lsner ABSTRACT: Aperpetual calendar shows the day of the week, date of the month, andmonth; by means of rotatable dials. A small portion of the dialsprotrudes from the case to enable them to be manually turned. The dialsare formed with an integral spring portion which cooperates with teethon bosses, upon which the dials are mounted, to provide a detent action.

PATENTEB 05221 19m SHEET 1 BF 2 INVENTOR JACK FAIRCHILD FLEMING ATTOR EYPATENTEU UECZI I97! 3628270 sum 2 BF 2 INVENTOR JACK FAIRCHILD FLEMINGgg m ATTOR Y rnnrn'ruAi. cALlsuuAn DESCRIPTION The present inventionrelates to desk calendars and more particularly to a perpetual calendarhaving individually rotatable dials which indicate the month, the day ofthe month and the day of the week. The calendar is perpetual in that itcan be used for more than one year.

Desk calendars usually consist of printed calendars having the month,year and day of the year on monthly removable sheets. However, sinceusually an entire month is shown in a small area, the size of each ofthe figures and characters is small, making them difficult to read at aglance.

It has been proposed that calendars having rotatabledials be used ondesks. Such calendars may use larger characters and numerals. However,such devices may be relatively expensive and complex.

It is the objective of the present invention to provide a per petualcalendar, and specifically a desk calendar, which may be read at aglance and which shows the day of the week, the date of the month, andthe month, and which, furthermore, may be utilized for a number ofyears.

It is a further objective of the present invention that the perpetualcalendar be manufactured using relatively few parts so that it isrelatively low in cost, economical to assemble, and reliable inoperation.

In accordance with the present invention, a perpetual calendar isprovided having a case molded of two plastic resin members. The frontcase member has three openings for, respectively, the date of the month,the day of the week, and the month. The front case member also has onits back or inner side two integral protruding bosses having protrudingteeth. These bosses are utilized as the spindles for two rotatabledials. The back case member is similarly molded with two bosses fordials on its inner side each having protruding teeth. In order toprovide for a slanted front face and yet enable the back to berelatively vertical, the back bosses are each surrounded by an integraldial supporting annulus. Either the front or the back member is providedwith flanges, so that the front and back members may be readily joinedtogether, for example, by an adhesive.

Each of the four dials has printed indicia thereon, the first dialhaving the names of 12 months, the second dial having the names of the 7days, the third dial having the numerals through 9, and the fourth dialhaving the numerals ll, 2 and 3. The blanks for all four dials areexactly the same, which enables them to be produced at a relatively lowcost. Each of the dials is in the form of a flat disk having a knurledouter edge. A central hole in each of the dials enables them to fit uponthe bosses on the front and back members Each of the dials has anintegral spring, formed by a cutout portion. The spring is substantiallyan M-shaped strip portion whose ends are connected with, and integralwith, the remainder of the dial.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages hereof willbecome apparent from the following detailed description of anillustrative embodiment, while the new features of construction andoperation claimed as the invention are set forth more particularly inthe appended claims.

The detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings which forma part hereof and in which:

FIG. I is an end view of the perpetual calendar of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a front view ofthat calendar;

FIG. 3 is a cross section along line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the calendar mechanismtaken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view, in cross section, of the calendar mechanism;

FIG. 6 is a frontal view taken in the direction of the arrows 6-6 inFIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a rear view taken in the direction of the arrows 7 7 in FIG.5;

FIG. is an enlarged plan view of one of the toothed bosses and itscooperating spring member; and

FIG. 9 is a similar view but of a different boss.

As shown in FIGS. 1-5, the perpetual calendar is enclosed within a casell having a bottom base and front, back, top and end walls. The caseconsists of a front member 2 and a back member 3.

The from member 2 has a lower front wall portion 25 and a front face 22which is at a slant relative to the base of the case. The front face 22has a first window 4 through which the days of the week show, a secondwindow opening 5 through which the date (days of the month) show, and athird window opening 6 through which the name of the month shows. Thefront member 2 is formed on its inner side with an integral raised firstboss M supporting a dial 9 and a similar second boss 15 supporting adial lltl. The boss 14 has 12 protruding teeth about its periphery andthe boss llS has 7 protruding teeth about its periphery.

The backwall member 3 has an upstanding back portion 11 and a base 2ll.The back member 3 has on its inner side an integral protruding boss 12supporting a dial 7 and protruding teeth, the number of which is notcritical. It also has thereon a second integral boss 13 supporting adial it and having ten protruding teeth about its periphery.

As shown in FIG. 8, the teeth of boss Ml cooperate with a spring 17which is a resilient strip integral with the dial 9. Each boss acts asthe spindle for the dial supported on it. The spring 117, in cooperationwith the teeth, acts to detent the dial and enables the dial to be movedin distinct steps and be retained in place. The strip spring ll7 isformed by a cutout portion 16 which provides a thin flexible resilientM-shaped strip portion, with the ends of the M attached to the body ofthe dial. Preferably the dial is a molded plastic resin disk in whichthe spring 17 is molded as an integral portion of the disk. As shown inFIG. 9, the same form of disk blank 10 having a substantially lVl-shapedspring strip 113 is used in cooperation with the boss 15. The boss 15has seven teeth and the boss 14 has I2 teeth. However, the protrudingportion of the spring 17 or 18 is sufficiently narrow so that it fits inthe groove between the teeth of a boss even in the case of bosses whichhave different numbers of teeth.

Each of the dials 7, 8, 9 and has a knurled outer edge which protrudesthrough slit in the tap or an end wall of the case, specifically, a slitin the tap or an end wall of the front member 2. As shown in FIG. 2,small portions of the dials 7, 8, 9 and I0 protrude through the slitsand enable the dials to be manually rotated in order to change the date,days and month.

It is preferable, as illustrated in FIG. 5, that the backwall ll of theback member 3 be vertical relative to its base 211. However, the dialsmounted on the back member should be at the same slant as the slant ofthe front face 22. Consequently, an integral raised annulus is providedas part of the back portion around each of the bosses l2 and 13 in orderto support the dials 7 and 3 in slanted position. The annulus 26 isprovided around boss 12 and the annulus 27 is provided around boss 13.

The front member 2 has end walls and a top wall 23 having a continuousflange 22 forming a lip which continues at 24 along the base ofits endwalls (see FIG. 5). After the dials are positioned on their bosses, theupper end and front edges of the back member 3 are fitted on the flangeand the two members are adhered together.

Preferably the dials are molded from suitable plastic resin, such aspolystyrene or polyethylene in the same mold, so that only one mold isneeded to produce all the dials for the calendar. The front member andback member are produced, also preferably from a suitable resin such aspolystyrene or polyethylene in separate molds. The entire perpetualcalendar assembly, consequently, consists of only six pieces which maybe inexpensively molded from plastic resin and which may be readilyassembled.

What is claimed is:

l. A perpetual calendar comprising a case having front and back wallsand top and end walls between them, said front wall having a pluralityof windows opening therethrough and having two protruding bosseslaterally spaced apart on its inner side, said top and end walls havingslits opening therethrough,

said backwall having two protruding bosses laterally spaced apart on itsinner side, a dial rotatably supported on each of said bosses, each saiddial having indicia on its face for exposure through one of said windowsby rotation of the dial on its boss, the indicia on said dialscomprising names of weekdays and months and numerals to represent thedays of a month, the dials on said bosses on said backwall havingperipheral portions thereof projecting through respective slits in saidtop wall to enable rotation thereof and the dials on said bosses on saidfront wall having peripheral portions thereof projecting throughrespective slits in said end walls to enable rotation thereof. I

2. A perpetual calendar according to claim 1, one of said windows beingcentrally disposed in said front wall, said dials on said bosses on saidbackwall having facial portions thereof lying adjacent to each other insaid centrally disposed window to expose therein indicia on both ofthose dials.

3. A perpetual calendar according to claim 1 said front wall beingsloped upwardly and backwardly from the base thereof, said bosses onsaid backwall protruding therefrom at an angle thereto and havingsupport elements disposed about them to hold the dials on the backwallbosses substantially parallel to the slope of said front wall.

4. A perpetual calendar according to claim 1, each said dial having acentral opening therein fitted upon and about its supporting boss toposition the dial, each said boss having a series of detents spacedapart about and protruding radially on its periphery, each dialcomprising a spring strip spaced from an arcuate segment of its body inthe plane thereof and bordering its said opening so as to bear againstsaid detents, each said spring strip having a protruding portion thereofengaging between said detents of the boss in said opening to retain thedial resiliently at any selected one of a number of rotationalpositions.

5. A perpetual calendar according to claim 4, said series of detents onsaid bosses on said front wall consisting respectively of seven and 12detents and said series of detents on the right-hand one of said bosseson said backwall consisting of 10 detents, whereby corresponding numbersof indicia on the dials on said bosses may be exposed selectivelythrough said windows to indicate any selected week day and date of anymonth.

i I? i t

1. A perpetual calendar comprising a case having front and back wallsand top and end walls between them, said front wall having a pluralityof windows opening therethrough and having two protruding bosseslaterally spaced apart on its inner side, said top and end walls havingslits opening therethrough, said backwall having two protruding bosseslaterally spaced apart on its inner side, a dial rotatably supported oneach of said bosses, each said dial having indicia on its face forexposure through one of said windows by rotation of the dial on itsboss, the indicia on said dials comprising names of weekdays and monthsand numerals to represent the days of a month, the dials on said bosseson said backwall having peripheral portions thereof projecting throughrespective slits in said top wall to enable rotation thereof and thedials on said bosses on said front wall having peripheral portionsthereof projecting through respective slits in said end walls to enablerotation thereof.
 2. A perpetual calendar according to claim 1, one ofsaid windows being centrally disposed in said front wall, said dials onsaid bosses on said backwall having facial portions thereof lyingadjacent to each other in said centrally disposed window to exposetherein indicia on both of those dials.
 3. A perpetual calendaraccording to claim 1 said front wall being sloped upwardly andbackwardly from the base thereof, said bosses on said backwallprotruding therefrom at an angle thereto and having support elementsdisposed about them to hold the dials on the backwall bossessubstantially parallel to the slope of said front wall.
 4. A perpetualcalendar according to claim 1, each said dial having a central openingtherein fitted upon and about its supporting boss to position the dial,each said boss having a series of detents spaced apart about andprotruding radially on its periphery, each dial comprising a springstrip spaced from an arcuate segment of its body in the plane thereofand bordering its said opening so as to bear against said detents, eachsaid spring strip having a protruding portion thereof engaging betweensaid detents of the boss in said opening to retain the dial resilientlyat any selected one of a number of rotational positions.
 5. A perpetualcalendar according to claim 4, said series of detents on said bosses onsaid front wall consisting respectively of seven and 12 detents and saidseries of detents on the right-hand one of said bosses on said backwallconsisting of 10 detents, whereby corresponding numbers of indicia onthe dials on said bosses may be exposed selectively through said windowsto indicate any selected week day and date of any month.